Can’t touch this!

Posted by Amanda Stoneall

11 years ago

The amazing thing about The Untouchables, a movie I can never resist when it’s on TV (so you know where I’ll be when it runs on AMC this Thursday night at 7:30 pm) isn’t that it was a hit, but that it wasn’t one of the biggest hits of all time.

Think about it: this is a movie for everyone. Of course guys love it because, well, it’s a classic guy movie. Righteous heroes battling the forces of evil. But it’s also a chick flick because there probably isn’t a woman in the world who doesn’t have a thing for at least one of this films quartet of stars—Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia or Robert DeNiro. (If you’re into nerds, this movie has Charles Martin Smith too. I’m talking about covering all the bases.)

There’s barely a name in the credits that doesn’t impress. Directed by Brain DePalma, as if making hits were the easiest thing in the world. Script by David Mamet. Music by Ennio Morricone, whose recent honorary Oscar corrects what might by the Academy’s longest-standing oversight. (It’s one of Morricone’s best scores, too: the only thing cooler than the opening music is the tune you’ll miss if you turn it off before the end credits.) Costumes? Giorgio Armani, no less.

Classic scenes? Al Capone practicing his batting at a fancy dress dinner. DePalma paying tribute to the famous Odessa steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin (you’ll recognize it even if you aren’t a professional film geek). The blood oath.

Connery won an Oscar (amazingly, his first), and the film was also nominated for Art Direction, Set Design and Music. Well, at least Morricone got the Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album.